, they cannot do good things nor bad things, they can do nothing
until we command them. And how shall this be done? Surely I can
understand it if you have wearied of this Talk a little. But I have
said all the things just for the sake of answering this question, so
that you should understand it. How do we command? not the hands alone
but all we do and say?

By our THOUGHTS.

Without them there is no power whatever. Until they have commanded,
the hands cannot make a motion; the feet must have direction ordered
to them, the tongue must be bidden to speak, and without the command
there is nothing.

Of course, all these Talks are about thoughts. But we shall need a
little time to speak of them particularly. And little by little it
will be clear to us all why the hands need to act thoughtfully. Now
the harm of the world is done by two forces,--by evil thought and by
thoughtlessness. Then it is no wonder that Ruskin speaks much about
the hands, for it is thought that gives them guidance. Can you wonder,
that when he says, "the idle and loud of tongue" he associates the
"_useless hand_."[54] These things go together, and together they come
either from evil thought or from lack of thought. The moment Ruskin
speaks of one who uses his hands with honor, his words glow. So he
speaks of the laborer, describing him as "silent, serviceable,
honorable, keeping faith, untouched by change, to his country and to
Heaven."

Thus, when we are earnestly asked to do something worthy with the
hands every day, we can understand why. I do not mean one worthy
thing, but some one particular worthy act, especially thought out by
us. To do that daily with forethought will purify the heart. It will
teach us to devote the hands to that which is worthy. Then another old
truth that every one knows will be clear to us: "As a man--or a child,
for that matter--thinketh in his heart, _so he is_."

Bit by bit the thoughts of this Talk will become clear to you. You
will feel more friendly toward them. Then you will really begin to
think about hands; your own hands and everybody's hands. You will
become truthful of hand, guiding your own thoughtfully; watching those
of others carefully. And you will find that in the smallest tasks of
your hands you can put forethought, while every use to which people
put their hands will teach you something if you observe carefully. It
may be folding a paper or picking up a pin, or anything else quite
common; that matte